The Study of Explanatory Content Models in Humanities

Proceedings of ‏The 4th International Academic Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences

Year: 2020

DOI:

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The Study of Explanatory Content Models in Humanities

Mahdi Jamali, Dr. Ahmad Hossein Sharifi

ABSTRACT: 

Explanation, interpretion and critical approaches are the three main approaches and methods in discovering humanities and social sciences. In the meantime, explanation has a special and privileged position. Many philosophers of humanities have considered explanation as the most important component and method of these sciences. Explanation means reason of exploring human phenomena, and predicting and controlling these phenomena is possible only in the shadow of explaining and finding the reasons of those phenomena. Because of the great importance of explanation, philosophers have considered various formal models, such as inductive, deductive, retroductive, and content, as causal, structural, functional, materialistic, and rational choice. Formal models are models in relation to the form of explanation and content models are also models in relation to the material and content of explanation. In this article, first we will explain the explanation and its content models in a descriptive-analytical method, and then we will critique and review these models in an analytical-critical method and we will show that firstly, the content models that are mentioned for explanation have flaws and objections, and secondly, explanation can not alone form the whole identity of the humanities, but the humanities also need other components such as interpretation. In fact, explanation is limited to causal explanation, and other types of explanation can either be returned to it or are not essentially explanation and are merely description.

Keywords: Humanities, Explanation, content Models, Causal Explanation.